U.S., China cyber battle intensifies

The United States and China appear locked in a cybersecurity war — of mostly words — that's beginning to escalate.

Both the White House and Capitol Hill now explicitly criticize Beijing for failing to subdue the hackers and spies thought to reside within the country's borders. And there are real punishments on the horizon, as the U.S. government eyes trade penalties and other restrictions on China and its top technology firms.

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There needs to be "a little pain and pinch," said Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) in an interview this week with POLITICO. The lawmaker, a longtime China critic on cybersecurity, was referring to both Beijing and the growing slate of other countries accused of spying or stealing from U.S. businesses.

The consensus in Washington is that China has become a hub for cyberhackers, who have targeted top U.S. businesses for trade secrets and other corporate or political intelligence. A controversial report from cybersecurity firm Mandiant even pegged some of the most significant attacks to an arm of the Chinese military, though the country's top representatives have denied the accusations.

The most recent example: a little-noticed provision in the latest government funding bill, which could make it harder for Chinese companies to sell tech products to a few federal agencies. Obama signed the continuing resolution into law this week. The White House did not comment for this story.

By some estimates, it's one of the first such cybersecurity-related provisions in a spending plan to exclusively target Chinese IT products — and it could be a sign of similar, broader efforts to come.

The measure also follows a series of aggressive statements from the Obama administration, which has focused intently over the past year at staving off hackers and shoring up the nation's digital defenses.

The White House's top security aide, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, publicly criticized China in a speech to the Asia Society earlier this month. He urged the country at the time to "take serious steps to investigate and put a stop” to the cyberattacks.

The president raised cybersecurity in his inaugural phone call with new Chinese President Xi Jinping. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, whose late-March visit to China marked the first such in-person contact in months, pressed his counterparts in Beijing gently over recent hacking accusations. And Gen. Keith Alexander, the head of U.S. Cyber Command, told reporters after a Hill hearing this month that he too stands by Donilon's high-profile remarks.

China has responded in part by turning the tables against the United States — and at least once, it has lambasted U.S. hackers for foul play in cyberspace.

Beyond the rhetoric, though, there's a brewing and complex debate in Washington over what exactly to do about the attacks. As they really just begin to confront the confounding China cybersecurity problem, both the White House and Congress must walk a precarious line — stopping the hackers, preventing diplomatic fallout and preserving U.S. trade.